The story line that dominated media coverage of the second Iranian uranium enrichment facility last week was the official assertion that U.S. intelligence had caught Iran trying to conceal a "secret" nuclear facility.

But an analysis of the transcript of that briefing by senior administration officials that was the sole basis for the news stories and other evidence reveals damaging admissions, conflicts with the facts and unanswered questions that undermine its credibility.

Iran's notification to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) of the second enrichment facility in a letter on Sep. 21 was buried deep in most of the news stories and explained as a response to being detected by U.S. intelligence. In reporting the story in that way, journalists were relying entirely on the testimony of "senior administration officials" who briefed them at the G20 summit in Pittsburgh Friday.

U.S. intelligence had "learned that the Iranians learned that the secrecy of the facility was compromised", one of the officials said, according to the White House transcript. The Iranians had informed the IAEA, he asserted, because "they came to believe that the value of the facility as a secret facility was no longer valid..."

Later in the briefing, however, the official said "we believe", rather than "we learned", in referring to that claim, indicating that it is only an inference rather than being based on hard intelligence.

The official refused to explain how U.S. analysts had arrived at that conclusion, but an analysis by the defence intelligence consulting firm IHS Jane's of a satellite photo of the site taken Saturday said there is a surface-to-air missile system located at the site.

Since surface-to-air missiles protect many Iranian military sites, however, their presence at the Qom site doesn't necessarily mean that Iran believed that Washington had just discovered the enrichment plant.

The official said the administration had organised an intelligence briefing on the facility for the IAEA during the summer on the assumption that the Iranians might "choose to disclose the facility themselves". But he offered no explanation for the fact that there had been no briefing given to the IAEA or anyone else until Sep. 24 - three days after the Iranians disclosed the existence of the facility.

A major question surrounding the official story is why the Barack Obama administration had not done anything – and apparently had no plans to do anything - with its intelligence on the Iranian facility at Qom prior to the Iranian letter to the IAEA. When asked whether the administration had intended to keep the information in its intelligence briefing secret even after the meeting with the Iranians on Oct. 1, the senior official answered obliquely but revealingly, "I think it's impossible to turn back the clock and say what might have been otherwise."

In effect, the answer was no, there had been no plan for briefing the IAEA or anyone.

News media played up the statement by the senior administration official that U.S. intelligence had been "aware of this facility for years".

But what was not reported was that he meant only that the U.S. was aware of a possible nuclear site, not one whose function was known.

The official in question acknowledged the analysts had not been able to identify it as an enrichment facility for a long time. In the "very early stage of construction," said the official, "a facility like this could have multiple uses." Intelligence analysts had to "wait until the facility had reached the stage of construction where it was undeniably intended for use as a centrifuge facility," he explained.

The fact that the administration had made no move to brief the IAEA or other governments on the site before Iran revealed its existence suggests that site had not yet reached that stage where the evidence was unambiguous.

A former U.S. official who has seen the summary of the administration's intelligence used to brief foreign governments told IPS he doubts the intelligence community had hard evidence that the Qom site was an enrichment plant. "I think they didn't have the goods on them," he said.

Also misleading was the official briefing's characterisation of the intelligence assessment on the purpose of the enrichment plant. The briefing concluded that the Qom facility must be for production of weapons-grade enriched uranium, because it will accommodate only 3,000 centrifuges, which would be too few to provide fuel for a nuclear power plant.

According to the former U.S. official who has read the briefing paper on the intelligence assessment, however, the paper says explicitly that the Qom facility is "a possible military facility". That language indicates that intelligence analysts have suggested that the facility may be for making low-enriched rather than for high-enriched, bomb-grade uranium.

It also implies that the senior administration official briefing the press was deliberately portraying the new enrichment facility in more menacing terms than the actual intelligence assessment.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's offer the day after the denunciation of the site by U.S., British and French leaders to allow IAEA monitoring of the plant will make it far more difficult to argue that it was meant to serve military purposes.

The circumstantial evidence suggests that Iran never intended to keep the Qom facility secret from the IAEA but was waiting to make it public at a moment that served its political-diplomatic objectives.

The Iranian government is well aware of U.S. capabilities for monitoring from satellite photographs any site in Iran that exhibits certain characteristics.

Iran obviously wanted to make the existence of the Qom site public before construction on the site would clearly indicate an enrichment purpose. But it gave the IAEA no details in its initial announcement, evidently hoping to find out whether and how much the United States already knew about it.

The specific timing of the Iranian letter, however, appears to be related to the upcoming talks between Iran and the P5+1 - China, France, Britain, Russia, the United States and Germany - and an emerging Iranian strategy of smaller back-up nuclear facilities that would assure continuity if Natanz were attacked.

The Iranian announcement of that decision on Sep. 14 coincided with a statement by the head of Iran's atomic energy organisation, Ali Akbar Salehi, warning against preemptive strikes against the country's nuclear facilities.

The day after the United States, Britain and France denounced the Qom facility as part of a deception, Salehi said, "Considering the threats, our organisation decided to do what is necessary to preserve and continue our nuclear activities. So we decided to build new installations which will guarantee the continuation of our nuclear activities which will never stop at any cost."

As satellite photos of the site show, the enrichment facility at Qom is being built into the side of a mountain, making it less vulnerable to destruction, even with the latest bunker-busting U.S. bombs.

The pro-administration newspaper Kayhan quoted an "informed official" as saying that Iran had told the IAEA in 2004 that it had to do something about the threat of attack on its nuclear facilities "repeatedly posed by the western countries".

The government newspaper called the existence of the second uranium enrichment plan "a winning card" that would increase Iran's bargaining power in the talks. That presumably referred to neutralising the ultimate coercive threat against Iran by the United States.

* Gareth Porter is an investigative historian and journalist specialising in U.S. national security policy. The paperback edition of his latest book, "Perils of Dominance: Imbalance of Power and the Road to War in Vietnam", was published in 2006.

lets make the middle east nuke free, lets see, who is armed to the teeth with nukes builtwith technology stolen from the usa?????OH YEA, ISRAEL, THE APARTHEID LAND GRABBING,LYING, SPYING,SHIT DISTURBING FUCKS!

Kevin

Haven't we been interfering with Iran long enough?Likely there wouldn't even have been a revolution, had we not twisted their political system according to our own whims (a.k.a. lust for petroleum). And isn't self-defense a recognized right of anyone on the planet--person or nation? If I had a psycho neighbor like Israel, I'd want nukes too. Besides...who the hell will stand up and say it's our right just 'cause we're the USA, but not Iran's. And let's not forget that Iran IS under constant threat from Israel and the US for doing the exact same things we've done and/or are doing. We, the USA, wants to negotiate on the international stage from a position of strength, security, and what we want to think is morality. I bet Iran, and her people, want the same thing. Guess what? They can't. They can only negotiate right now from a standpoint of fear and paranoia. If we were in the same position, you can bet your bottom dollar we'd literally move mountains (like Iran is doing) to get nukes. It's understandable to a six-year-old.If we want no nukes, let's lead by example, like any good commander must assuredly do. Leadership is done by LEADING. Enough of "do as I say, not as I do."

If the USA grew a set of nads about Israel, maybe other nations would feel a little more respect, and a little less fear. Maybe they wouldn't NEED nukes. I don't like Ahmedinijad any more than I liked GW Bush. But he's correct that nuke energy is the right of every nation. We have no right to browbeat them into doing things we, ourselves, will not do.

I think the CIA has fucked this situation up for us for longer than anyone alive remembers. Why do we believe the CIA at all? They are, if I'm not mistaken, professional liars. Hey! Here's an unusual idea: why don't we scrap the CIA altogether. And then we could begin, oh, I don't know...telling the truth, treating other nations even-handedly, and not accepting lies from our "allies" any more than we accept lies from our "enemies". A part of that honesty would be to say, "you know, we're only interested in 1)oil, and 2)not being attacked...and Israel has no oil." It'd rather change the equation, don't you think? If we'd not made religious whackos out of Iran, they'd have probably been pretty good friends and allies. Because of large corporations and the CIA, it'll be a long, long time before they're either.Just my two cents.

damixaustex

Very well put.I see a few positive things happening toward your view.-The US is finally openly talking to Iran. Finally.-The coverage of their election plight, I think, did a lot more to help Americans understand Iranians and feel more connected. I think Americans secretly wish they were allowed to protest like the Iranians did. Sure, didn't end so well there, but here? Same protests would have been much, much worse, much sloppier.-The clincher- who currently controls the airspace between Israel and Iran? The only direct flight of missiles or fighters is either across an unwilling Arab country or Iraq. The US is right in the middle and would have to be complicit in a preemptive Israeli attack. My opinion, that ain't gonna happen. We're sick of war.

Elim

We are allowed to protest like the Iranians, but we're so zombified by television, internet, cellphones and mp3 downloads, we won't get off our fat lazy butts to go out into the streets to do what they did. Absolutely shameful.

damixaustex

Yeah, a lot of people are more satisfied than they profess, and yes, some lack conviction, but some are just afraid to protest and won't admit it.

We've been brainwashed into thinking it's still allowed and we're "free" to do it, but deep down people know the various local govt's won't let them until their "group" has been fully vetted.

Tried to protest spontaneously lately? I dare ya!

They look at it now like you should have a permit; the lack of one is reason enough to make you disperse. On TV, they report lack of permit, show a little fake violence or the one person who's throwing something or acting wildly, and the viewers agree it should be broken up.

If I want to protest the government, why would I want to get a permit from it to do so?

This is why I say Americans are developing an admiration for Iranians. They want freedom, like we do, and they still have the drive to make it happen.

tvfreezone

More lies and paranoia-induced delusion coming from the CIA? There is no evidence that Iran is building a bomb, just fear. Yes, let's scrap the CIA. Fat chance. When an empire permits the existence of a secret fear machine, it has one foot in the grave and the other in a bear trap. The CIA is self perpetuating. Sure, its funding could be entirely discontinued by Congress but, yawn, there's no leadership there.

bayside

And the neo cons obama keeps appointing in his administration are continuing bushs policies. But we know what they are doing now..

dotmafia

we always did know what the neocons were doing, but nobody would listen or open their eyes and see the warped american ultra-patriotic propaganda.

Thomas Jefferson

continuing to push teh stupid ball forward.

notausername

Somebody is paying attention!! The rest of us have learned big ZERO from the Iraq "mushroom clound", "WMD", "Mobile labs", .... Nothing new here...move along.

Terrible

This isn't the least bit surprising since those guilty of using forged documents and illegal domestic propaganda and lies to take the US military into an illegal war of aggression have yet to be brought to justice. They think they can continue to get away with it. But the majority of the American citizens are getting some feed up with this anti--American right wing radical bullshit!!!

tbahrain

Trust Mr. Porter to always come up with an in-depth analysis and clears the ambiguity.

Seems Senator David "Shitter" Vitter has the balls to take on the made-up ACORN scandal. Really. A guy made this great video slamming the "Shitter." Watch the video, rate it(we want it on the most viewed list), then make the call. Post the video to your facebook so all your friends will call and bug the "crap" out of them.

"impossible to turn back the clock "No accountability for GovernmentNo justice for Government

Brandon

I guess we need another war in order to continue the american charade.

SoCalPragmatist

The existence of this facility has been known for YEARS...I remember looking at it via Google Earth at least 3 years ago. Just Google the words "Qom" and "nuclear" and you'll see references going back as far as 2005!!

At first the American government, or at least the part of it that seems to be in control of such things, imposed an authoritarian monarchy on Iranians; you know, like the one in Saudi Arabia. I ask, why would the great Democracy do this and at the same time so blatantly turn its back on its own history and principles? Indeed the story is the same almost everywhere America goes when claiming to free the people in the name of democracy.

It all begins as a pretext, covering up for the true reason; ask any Vietnamese and they will tell you what their war with America was really about, OIL! (there are huge reserves of oil off its coast) It eventually ends in dictatorship however and whether or not the gambit is itself successful, the population shall fall into the hands of people brutal enough to maintain it. Yet invariably, it isn't because of the brutality perpetrated against its people or even its form of governance, that cause America's geo-political interests and supporters to hate the current regime in Iran. Its because they have been told NO! We need not look far for similar examples of American duplicity expressed elsewhere in the region, where most leaders have said YES, and where exists a general inability of the people there as well as in Iran, to effectively throw out these thugs and dictators.

In all, it is the usurpation and at times, the downright theft of the natural resources of those who are perceived to be weak and therefore unable to defend themselves, which is at the heart of this game that America plays around the world. Unless that is, like the Israelis and N Koreans have found, you make everyone believe you are bat shit crazy enough and willing to use nuclear weapons, real or not, to protect your country; such deception is better known as black mail, and countries like Iran, Burma and other incipient nuclear manipulators will be added to a growing list of counties, actually all of them, who are willing to use the bomb in this way.

geo1671

What really bothers me,the Juice have been bad mouthing the germans since 1932 and they take it. Now Germany has saddled with the USA/UK/French thugs to protect Israel.Get this, 3 years ago, Germany developed one of the most advanced submarines,with mechanics to accomdate nukes. Between 6 to 7 were GIVEN to Israel.Just like Saudia Arabia--19 terrorist attackers 911,even though it was Made in USA self attack,the Saudias didn't demand a proper investigation. What gives? Are Jews that poerfull or money talks kosher. No wonder Jewish money is called Shackles :^/

moi2cents

geoi671,

Can we leave "jews" out of it? This has zero to do with judaism, but a hell of a lot to do with unprincipled power, and paranoia, and fear. Of course, many, many people, of all nations, and of just about all cultures, justify their untenable wants and practices by reference to their imaginary friends. Oftentimes, however, there are no justifications to be found in those belief systems save the ones spun up by people claiming to be adherents to those belief systems. Jews do not, in particular, have a corner on that market.

I find no credibility in ascribing lawful or moral authority to any of them.

geo1671

Re; Mio2cent's comment-'Can we leave "jews" out of it? This has zero to do with judaism"..http://www.therebel.org/opinion/middle_east/sea...FYI:^) Jews control Washington establishment, all major media Video/Print/publishing, Hollywood, militray Industry complex, Banking Money System, Stock exchanges, Major recycling,Food processing plants, Hotel chains, Resorts and they own you to fight their dirty wars.Hard to forget USS LIBERTY KILLINGS and COVER-UP by the Jews.I guess , in your silly rants would put the blame on Arabs.It is well known,that the 4 War Crimimials of WWII, where Stalin, Churchill,Roosevelt, Hitler and all from Jewish bloodlines. Only Hitler kept his real Jewish name. Over 60 million died for the creation of Israel--- and yet they again got away with pulling off 911 attacks.Really sucks,Big Time, in how stupid slaves think!

Mr. Neutron

It's not a "uranium enrichment facility" until the centrifuges and uranium are inside the facility.So far, it is just an empty building inside a mountain, therefore Iran was not required, by the NNPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, you know, the Treaty that all civilized countries have signed)(not Israel) to report this empty building until a certain amount of time before occupation.

Iran claims that it is not bound by the revised Code 3.1 of its Subsidiary Arrangement with the IAEA and, therefore, they need to announce new facilities only 180 days before nuclear material enters the site and material will not be introduced for at least 6 months as of last Monday, when Iran sent the letter to the IAEA.http://www.fas.org/blog/ssp/2009/09/the-qom-ura...

The U.S. and Israel *HATE IT* when Iran abides by the NNPT, obeying it to the letter. That's why they are trying to use the UN Security Council to "punish" Iran, because the IAEA cannot do anything to a country that is perfectly compliant with the NNPT. Unfortunately for the bullies, China and Russia have a Veto to their illegal sanctions - the U.S. can only bribe them with economic carrots for so long, and now the U.S. is economically weaker than ever...

Ted

The notions of secrecy and ill intent have been the only evidence that US and its attack dog Isreal have been reliant upon to push their line of aggression. However, the facility is well with in the NPT guide liens and as such has been referred to by IAEA.

Fact that no treaty or agreement seems to be of any interest to US, UK, Isreal, begs the question why the rest of the world is not withdrawing from all the treaties, and get on with their own versions thereof as in the case of the vociferous trio.

I am going to be posting and uploading information related to Latin America and my solidarity with the social justice, human rights, independent media issues and peace movements in that region on a new blog page. I have been posting related information on this blog, but will be primarily posting to this “new” link in the near future … please stop by and stay current with solidarity concerns and issues.

Yesterday, 30 Republican senators opposed an amendment to the Defense Appropriations bill that would prohibit federal defense contractors like Halliburton/KBR from getting money "if they restrict their employees from taking workplace sexual assault, battery and discrimination cases to court."

In other words, 30 GOP senators want to deny rape victims their day in court.

Think Progress has the story of the woman who prompted this amendment: In 2005, Jamie Leigh Jones was gang-raped by her co-workers while she was working for Halliburton/KBR in Baghdad. She was detained in a shipping container for at least 24 hours without food, water, or a bed, and "warned her that if she left Iraq for medical treatment, she’d be out of a job." (Jones was not an isolated case.) Jones was prevented from bringing charges in court against KBR because her employment contract stipulated that sexual assault allegations would only be heard in private arbitration.

Guess Who Received The Most Campaign Dollars From Private Contractors? (AUDIO)

By Justin Yuen

The thirty GOP Senators who voted against the Franken amendment, which protects women who were raped or sexually abused while working for private defense contractors, received generous contributions from those same private contractors. Are wesurprised? Didn't think so.

Congress Approves Release of SOA/ WHINSEC Names But Serious Concerns RemainMood: brightNow Playing: SOA - for the first time in US History....Topic: POLITICS

Partial Legislative Victory!

Congress Approves Release of SOA/ WHINSEC Names

But Serious Concerns Remain

10.8.09 sent to my email For the first time in the history of the SOA Watch Legislative Campaign, the U.S. Congress has approved legislative language opposing the negative practices and secrecy at the School of the Americas (SOA), now renamed WHINSEC. Congratulations and thanks go to all who worked so hard this year to achieve victory! SOA Watch is encouraged and hopeful about the outcome, however serious concerns remain.

On June 25, 2009, the House of Representatives approved an amendment to the Defense Authorization bill by a vote of 224 - 190 that required the Pentagon to release information about students and instructors at the SOA/ WHINSEC. This language was not passed by the Senate, so for the past three months, human rights advocates embarked on a multi-level pressure campaign to ensure the House-Senate conference committee included the amendment language in the final version of the bill. It was the second year in a row that the House passed this amendment by a wide margin, giving hope to many that the practice of secrecy at the SOA/WHINSEC would finally end this year.

Today the House of Representatives approved the conference report that includes the amendment language, but not in the exact form that was passed by the House.

The new language requires that the Secretary of Defense release the names of students and instructors but with two clarifications: names are only released for FY 2009 and FY 2010, and the Secretary of Defense can waive this provision should it be deemed to be in the national interest.

While the release of names for FY 2009 and FY 2010 is a welcome first step, the decision by the conference committee to maintain secrecy about who has attended the SOA/ WHINSEC for the past 4 years raises a red flag about what the Pentagon may be hiding. From FY 2005 to FY 2008, hundreds of serious human rights crimes, including the San José de Apartadó massacre among many others, implicated Latin American military officials throughout the region. The gap in knowledge about what role U.S. military training played in the practices of Latin American militaries for 4 years undermines the pursuit of a just foreign policy by denying the public and Congress the very information they need to make important foreign policy decisions.

In addition, the waiver granted to the Pentagon to deny the release of this vital information in the name of national interest ignores the many reasons why it is in the national interest for public disclosure of SOA/ WHINSEC graduates and instructors. What could be more of a national interest than human rights, democracy and transparency?!

SOA Watch is hopeful that in the next few weeks human rights advocates will receive the names of SOA/ WHINSEC attendees and begin the important human rights oversight work of the school that has been missing for the past 4 years.

In the next few weeks, SOA Watch will continue to press forward on a number of legislative campaigns, so watch for our alerts with new information that you and your local group can take action on.

Amazing pictures from the BBC of Menik Farm, the refugee camp in Sri Lanka currently housing over 240,000 Tamils. This is just one of the camps in the country housing Tamil refugees who fled the fighting in the country's north earlier this year.(This photo is not from their set, but is from Menik Farm. Click through for their photos.) The question for these refugees is how soon will the government let them return to their homes and villages?http://current.com/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8297760.stm

Is the U.S. Preparing to Bomb Iran?

Is the U.S. Stepping Up Preparations for a Possible Attack on Iran's Nuclear Facilities?

By JONATHAN KARL

Is the U.S. stepping up preparations for a possible attack on Iran's nuclear facilities?

The Pentagon is always making plans, but based on a little-noticed funding request recently sent to Congress, the answer to that question appears to be yes.

First, some background: Back in October 2007, ABC News reported that the Pentagon had asked Congress for $88 million in the emergency Iraq/Afghanistan war funding request to develop a gargantuan bunker-busting bomb called the Massive Ordnance Penetrator (MOP). It's a 30,000-pound bomb designed to hit targets buried 200 feet below ground. Back then, the Pentagon cited an "urgent operational need" for the new weapon.

Now the Pentagon is shifting spending from other programs to fast forward the development and procurement of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator. The Pentagon comptroller sent a request to shift the funds to the House and Senate Appropriations and Armed Services Committees over the summer.

The comptroller said the Pentagon planned to spend $19.1 million to procure four of the bombs, $28.3 million to accelerate the bomb's "development and testing", and $21 million to accelerate the integration of the bomb onto B-2 stealth bombers.

'Urgent Operational Need'

The notification was tucked inside a 93-page "reprogramming" request that included a couple hundred other more mundane items.

Why now? The notification says simply, "The Department has an Urgent Operational Need (UON) for the capability to strike hard and deeply buried targets in high threat environments. The MOP is the weapon of choice to meet the requirements of the UON." It further states that the request is endorsed by Pacific Command (which has responsibility over North Korea) and Central Command (which has responsibility over Iran).

Is the U.S. Preparing to Bomb Iran?

The request was quietly approved. On Friday, McDonnell Douglas was awarded a $51.9 million contract to provide "Massive Penetrator Ordnance Integration" on B-2 aircraft.

How to Secure

Your Laptop in Public Places

When you're working offsite, whether at a client's office or the local coffee shop, you've got to protect your laptop, whether from physical theft or the nosy cyber-snoop who's trying to flip through your iTunes library (or worse). While your company has probably provided you with a VPN to securely connect to their internal network, what about your personal passwords and local files? Let's take a look at a few good habits to get into for safe laptop computing, and then some more advanced tactics.

The Basics: Best PracticesEvery laptop user should have a healthy paranoia about the possibility of getting their notebook stolen or hacked while they're using a public Wi-Fi network at the airport or coffeehouse. Stay circumspect and use some of the tools built into your notebook's operating system to keep yourself safe.

Turn on your firewall. When you're on an open Wi-Fi network, make sure you have your laptop's firewall on and blocking unwanted incoming connections. In Windows' Control Panel, click on Windows Firewall. On your Mac, in System Preferences, go to Security and click on the Firewall tab to turn it on.

Password protect — or unshare — shared folders. When you're at home, sharing a document folder with other computers behind your firewall is a fine idea. But when you're out and about, you may not want everyone to be able to see your collection of family vacation photos. Make sure your shared folders are password protected when you're not on a safe network. Even better, turn off all sharing when you're on a public network.

Use https (secure connections to web sites) whenever possible. When you're checking your webmail like Gmail or Yahoo Mail, or visiting any site with the option, make sure you're using the https:// (instead of http://) connection to encrypt any information you submit there, like your password. Most modern webmail and calendar programs like Gmail and Google Calendar offer an https:// option.

Don't save your web site passwords in your browser without encrypting them. Sure, if you save your web site passwords inside your browser, you save a whole lot of time. However, if a thief, co-worker, or relative uses your computer, it's also dead simple for that person to log into your accounts. Three weeks ago I ran down how to secure your browser's saved passwords with an encrypted master password — do it.

Lock down your laptop with an actual lock. If you work in a public place often and tend to leave your laptop unattended, invest $15 to $30 on a physical laptop lock to anchor your notebook to the desk. It's a simple way to deter thieves.

Always have a current backup of your important data. Backing up your computer will help you restore things in the event of theft or a hard drive crash or coffee spill. When your laptop is docked back at home or the office, use an external hard drive to back up your documents. If you're constantly on the go, a remote backup service like Mozy or Carbonite works over the internet in the background, and can restore your files from anywhere.

Run anti-virus and malware protection software. Like a backup system, this is a best practice for all computers, not just your laptop. Just last week Microsoft released their new and free Security Essentials software. Download that and scan your notebook on a regular basis.

Advanced SecurityThe super-paranoid and technically-inclined can use hacker-level techniques for locking down files and disks. Those include:

Encrypting folders and disks. Using free tools you can encrypt an entire hard drive or just a folder full of files. When you encrypt data, you use a secret key to scramble it into an unreadable format, which foils any thieves' attempts to read your private files. To decrypt it, you need a master password. On a Mac, you can create an encrypted disk image by using the Disk Utility application. Macs also come with File Vault (in System Preferences, Security), which encrypts your home folders' contents keeping unwanted eyes out. Windows Vista and the upcoming Windows 7 offers BitLocker, a data encryption application. Alternately, you can use a free utility called TrueCrypt to encrypt a folder or drive.

Securing your network traffic via an SSH tunnel. Another common technique among the tech elite is the use of an SSH tunnel, or a secure connection to an outside computer (like your home server or office computer) to connect to the internet. From the network you're already on, it looks like you're sending encrypted information to a single destination; in reality, you're using a trusted remote server as a proxy for all your network activity. Here's more on how to encrypt your web browsing session with an SSH SOCKS proxy.

......Our loose lifestyle and even certain amusements considered dubious that have always been enjoyed among our entourage — slipping by night into houses undergoing demolition, hitchhiking nonstop and without destination through Paris during a transportation strike in the name of adding to the confusion, wandering in subterranean catacombs forbidden to the public, etc. — are expressions of a more general sensibility which is no different from that of the dérive. Written descriptions can be no more than passwords to this great game.

The lessons drawn from dérives enable us to draw up the first surveys of the psychogeographical articulations of a modern city. Beyond the discovery of unities of ambiance, of their main components and their spatial localization, one comes to perceive their principal axes of passage, their exits and their defenses. One arrives at the central hypothesis of the existence of psychogeographical pivotal points. One measures the distances that actually separate two regions of a city, distances that may have little relation with the physical distance between them. With the aid of old maps, aerial photographs and experimental dérives, one can draw up hitherto lacking maps of influences, maps whose inevitable imprecision at this early stage is no worse than that of the first navigational charts. The only difference is that it is no longer a matter of precisely delineating stable continents, but of changing architecture and urbanism....

Tyranny of the Majority: 3 wolves & 6 goatsMood: mischieviousNow Playing: Democracy ... I dont think soTopic: POLITICSTyranny of the Majority:If you ever found yourself in a vastly outnumbered minority, and the majority voted that you had to give up something as necessary to your life as water and air, would you comply? When it comes down to it, does anyone really believe it makes sense to accept the authority of a group simply on the grounds that they outnumber everyone else? We accept majority rule because we do not believe it will threaten us – and those it does threaten are already silenced before anyone can hear their misgivings.

[...]

Three wolves and six goats are discussing whatto have for dinner. One courageous goat makesan impassioned case: “We should put it to a vote!” Theother goats fear for his life, but surprisingly, the wolvesacquiesce. But when everyone is preparing to vote, thewolves take three of the goats aside.“Vote with us to make the other three goats dinner,”they threaten. “Otherwise, vote or no vote, we’ll eat you.”The other three goats are shocked by the outcome ofthe election: a majority, including their comrades, hasvoted for them to be killed and eaten. They protest inoutrage and terror, but the goat who first suggested thevote rebukes them: “Be thankful you live in a democracy! At least we got to have a say in this!”